Day 24: Day off in Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis, MN

It was so nice to have a good shower and a good nights rest. I woke to the little pitter patter of little kids footsteps. I could not but help to smile at that. It made me think of my two little nieces. I got up and brought my camera with me. The kids moved to the outside. They had me follow them out back to play with them. I went back while Alisa went in to relax. I photographed the brother and little sister playing on their playground. I wanted to be able to give something back to my host for picking me up and providing a place to relax my muscles.
After a sitter arrived, Alisa and I went to Midwest Mountaineering to pick up some gear. Wilderness Systems sent me the replacement parts I needed. I picked up a higher back rest while I was there. I wandered around while Alisa was running her errands. As I crossed over a major highway, I looked down at the traffic. It made me miss and appreciate the quiet of the wild in nature. I can not say enough about the level of peace and quiet that one experiences in the wild. I will get back to that in another post. After she picked me back up, we went back to get the kids and meet Jeff out for dinner in the city. We arrived and I was able to check out the St. Anthony’s Stone bridge. It straddled the Mississippi with old flower mills on both sides. The Minneapolis side had the old Gold Medal Flour building which was destroyed from a flour dust explosion. The other side housed the Pillsbury Flour Mill. The Gold Medal Flour mill is now a museum (http://www.millcitymuseum.org/museum-minneapolis-riverfront) and the Pillsbury Mill is being renovated for riverfront condos.
We all ate at Astra. It was a beautiful evening to sit outside for dinner. I talked with Alison, whom I met in Bemidji Airport, and she agreed to meet me after dinner. She showed up and we went out for an adventure. She filled me in on some of the local history as we listened to an outdoor concert. We walked out over the St. Anthony’s Bridge taking photos as we moved. We walked across it and down into the ruins of a mill industry that was a critical part of Minneapolis history. I captured some images of her as I miss doing portraiture photography. We wondered around till the night set in. As we walked across the bridge again, a storm cloud was heading our way. I managed to snap a few long exposure images of the river before it started pouring. We made it back towards our cars and said it was a pleasure to hang out and thank you for the mini-adventure. I made it back to Jeff’s car, which he left me to get home, without the camera gear getting wet. I made it back in for the evening and called it another good day.